A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ANTIGYPSYISM

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged accidental racism, accidental racist, Alliance Against Antigypsyism, antigypsyism, antisemitism, Ashkali, Balkan Egyptians, beginners guide, black, campervan, chakras, Community, costume, discrimination, Europe, european commission, European Parliament, featured, gypsy, halloween, hate speech, hatred, health services, infant mortality, Irish Travellers, islamophobia, life expectancy, Manush, middle ages, minorities, persecution, rabbit hole, racism, Roma, Romani, safe housing, segregation, Sinti, social acceptance, society, stereotypes, travellers, unemployment, Yenish.

by Jonathan Lee

Content warning: article explores discrimination, racism, hate speech and antigypsyism and includes derogatory language.

Don’t say gypo or gypped. Pikey or tinker. Don’t put up ‘No Travellers’ signs.

If you are not Romani, never wear Gypsy-themed costumes at Hallowe’en. And don’t call yourself Gypsy because you think you’re free spirited. Or because you’ve been to India, or believe in chakras, or live in a campervan or something. These things are racist towards Romani people and Irish Travellers. It’s called antigypsyism.

This is the specific form of racism directed against Roma, Sinti, Travellers, Manush, Balkan Egyptians, Ashkali, Yenish and others who are stigmatized as ‘gypsies’ in the public imagination.

Unfortunately, there is a lot more to it than a few nasty words and some garishly tacky costumes. In order to fight this phenomenon in our society, you need to understand how deep the rabbit hole really goes.Continue Reading

AFTER TRUMP AND BREXIT, THE LEFT NEEDS TO REDISCOVER CLASS ANGER

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged anti-establishment, Bernie Sanders, Boris Johnson, Brexit, british politics, class, corbyn, Donald Trump, economics, economy, election, elections, elite, establishment, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, Europe, European Parliament, european politics, european union, Hilary Clinton, inequality, international, international politics, jeremy corbyn, joan williams, Labour, labour party, middle class, referendum, Trump, US election, US president, US presidential election, USA, wealth, working class, xenophobia.

By Robyn Banks

I’m in the break room at work choking on my out of date sandwich. I’ve just been informed by two of my colleagues- good, down to earth working class people who probably think I bang on about my degree too much- that Boris Johnson is a “lad”, and I have no idea what to say. But none of us have any money, I want to shout. And he wants us to have less! Before I can respond, the conversation moves on to laughing about his hair, which is much more tolerable. Later, as I complain about Trumps victory, I am told that all I want is for “everyone to sit in a circle and hold hands”.

THE EU REFERENDUM – 12 WEEKS ON

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged aachen, Belgium, Britain, Calais, chernobyl, climate change, david cameron, dover, dunkerque, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, Europe, European Parliament, european union, fortress europe, fukushima, gchq, germany, gold medals, grande synthe, Great British Bake-Off, hinkley, hinkley point, Hungary, immigration, liege, luxembourg, maastricht, migration, netherlands, olympics, theresa may, three mile island, travel, travel writing, windscale.

by Kelvin Smith

The last trip was just before the EU referendum; through France, Spain and Portugal, preoccupied with the possibility of a leave vote, but knowing somewhere deep inside that it would never, could never happen. So much for gut feelings.

VOTE LEAVE: BREXIT AND THE CRISIS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged bank of england, Boris Johnson, Brexit, british politics, class, conservative party, Ed Miliband, EU, EU referendum, Europe, European Parliament, european politics, european union, IMF, jeremy corbyn, Lexit, Nato, Nigel Farage, politics, working class.

by Anonymous

For a long time, I have been a strong supporter of a so called ‘#Lexit’ from the EU, rejecting both the capitalist stance of Cameron, and the mainstream xenophobic leave campaigns. Nearly all discourse surrounding a Left Exit of the EU is dominated by Liberal Remainers, who ignore the genuine voices of the working class which is tired of decreasing living standards and austerity measures across Europe.Continue Reading

THERE IS NO THIRD BOX TO TICK: ‘LEXIT’ IS NOT AN OPTION

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged Aaron Bastani, AV, ballot box, Boris Johnson, breaking point, Brexit, british politics, British society, Bush, Cameron, campaign, Clinton, corbyn, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, European Parliament, european politics, european union, general election, gore, Greece, homophobic, isolationism, Jacque Chirac, Labour, Leave.EU, left wing, Lexit, LGBT+, Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, PR, propaganda, racism, self interest, socialism, trade, Trump, uk, Vote Leave, Vote Remain, voting, xenophobia.

by Elliot Folan

So. The referendum is nearly upon us. And the reactionary Leave campaign rolls on, with Farage unveiling his latest piece of racist propaganda and Leave.EU exploiting the homophobic murder of 49 LGBT+ people for political gain. The leaflets that keep dropping through my door from the official Vote Leave campaign, meanwhile, tell me that we must take back ‘control of our borders’ and rid ourselves of EU regulations that protect workers’ rights. The campaign to leave the EU has had no left-wing voices in it, despite the hopes of lapsed Lexiter Aaron Bastani (who has flipped, and will now vote to Remain). Yet some activists, and a handful of Labour MPs, continue to push the narrative that an exit from the EU will be a triumph for progressive politics.

I understand this view. I don’t want to pretend that I find it incomprehensible, or that it’s without any rational basis. The European Union is an institution weighted towards transnational capital, its decisions are made in backroom committees far from public scrutiny or understanding, and the only directly elected institution — the European Parliament — lacks the formal powers of a proper Parliament. The left-wing critiques of the European Union are not without foundation.Continue Reading

EUROPE, YOUTH, AND AN ENDURING TASTE OF NATIONALISM

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged anti-war, EU, Europe, European Parliament, European Youth Event, EYE, freedom of speech, Front National, Human Rights Heroes, integration, MEP, migration, national front, nationalist, Nour Machlah, populist, progressive future, refugee, Strasbourg, Syria, UEA, unemployment, youth, youth engagement.

by Sam Naylor

On the 20th and 21st of May, myself and thirteen other students from the University of East Anglia (UEA) attended the European Youth Event (EYE) in Strasbourg. Over 7,500 young people attended the event, coming together to share ideas on how to tackle youth-related issues through interaction with European decision-makers and speakers.

Through attending plenary sessions on addressing youth unemployment and migration, to panels of Human Rights Heroes and ERASMUS+ opportunities, right the way through to pop-up-tent-style refugee meetings and anti-war talks, EYE provided a space for European youth to imagine a progressive future for the continent and its young people. Sadly, this sparked the cynic in me as the European Union is by no means a shining institution of perfection. An inner voice continued to nudge, searching for some sort of foul play; was the event just one big act to get European youth on board with the EU project? Or is it fair to view young people as more likely to push for their ideals and move away from business-as-usual politics and policies? I’d still like to believe in the latter.Continue Reading

WHY ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE: INTERVIEW WITH MARINA PRENTOULIS

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Another Europe is Possible, Brendan Barber, Brexit, Britain, david cameron, democracy, economy, EU, EU referendum, european identity, European Parliament, european union, grassroots, identity, immigration, jeremy corbyn, Labour, leadership, Leave Campaign, left wing, Marina Prentoulis, neoliberal, Remain Campaign, security, Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, solidarity, Stronger In, Syriza, Tories, transparency, TTIP, uea lecturer, UKIP.

by Olivia Hanks

With just over six weeks to go until the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, the Remain campaign has two considerable problems. Firstly, the EU is so flawed, so bloated and undemocratic, in the eyes of virtually everyone, that it is very difficult even for those who will be voting Remain to get truly excited about it. Secondly, at the head of the campaign is David Cameron, a man so universally disliked by people of all political persuasions that it is a miracle he continues to cling to power.

There is very little in the lead Remain campaign to offer hope or inspiration to anybody. The three key points on the home page of Britain Stronger in Europe read #Better Economy. Better Leadership. Better Security’, which, reading between the lines, might be interpreted as follows: “We’ll make sure Britain keeps consuming the world’s resources at an unsustainable rate, while ensuring all the resulting wealth is concentrated at the top. Oh, and we’ll see to it those dirty foreigners don’t get their hands on any.”Continue Reading

European Parliament

AFTER TRUMP AND BREXIT, THE LEFT NEEDS TO REDISCOVER CLASS ANGER

THE EU REFERENDUM – 12 WEEKS ON

VOTE LEAVE: BREXIT AND THE CRISIS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT

THERE IS NO THIRD BOX TO TICK: ‘LEXIT’ IS NOT AN OPTION

EUROPE, YOUTH, AND AN ENDURING TASTE OF NATIONALISM

WHY ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE: INTERVIEW WITH MARINA PRENTOULIS

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